To Those Who Think That All Of The Genius In The World Has Already Been Used Up

No, it has not. But it feels like it has.

Every time you see someone say something or do something or write something or create something great, you think Why didn’t I do that? Why didn’t I make that? Why didn’t I think of that? 

Sometimes it feels like all the intelligence and creativity that exists in the world has been used up and taken by other people. Sometimes it feels like there’s no point in even bothering, because what could you bring to the table that’s better than Hemingway or Einstein or Seinfeld?

What’s the point in trying if you feel like whatever you bring forth is going to be useless?

The point is that you’ll never find out how much genius you have inside of you unless you try over and over again. Mozart didn’t create his first true, original masterpiece until he was several years deep into his music. Van Gogh only ever sold one painting while he was alive. Matthew McConaughey was told he could never act because of his horrible accent, and now Lincoln is paying him millions of dollars to creep everybody out with his car commercials.

Pretty much every single person in the world, even the most famous and successful ones, sucked on their first try. And their second and their fiftieth. Their genius isn’t the thing that brought them success, their resilience was. The genius didn’t come until they had tried over and over and over and got really good at whatever the hell it was that they were trying to do.

There’s still plenty of genius out in the world, and there always will be. Because there are always going to be people out there who are willing to try, and willing to fail. As long as you’re willing to try, genius will always be a renewable resource for you. There’s no guarantee that you’ll ever create a masterpiece or gain worldwide recognition, but it’s not impossible. And regardless of the outcome, you’ll be creating, and that’s the important thing.

If you try to find the genius within you, you won’t be questioning what could have been when you’re reflecting on your life years down the line. You may have had success and you may have not, but either way, you will never wonder what would have happened. You will never have that torturous, aching, wondering thought in your brain.

Because you will know, regardless of the end result, that there was still genius out in the world and you tried to find it.